Ruger LC9 Review - and why I sold it

This is a discussion on Ruger LC9 Review - and why I sold it within the Defensive Carry Guns forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; Ok, first off, this is just my experience with the LC9, so if you own one, if you like it and it works for you, ...

Ruger LC9 Review - and why I sold it

Ok, first off, this is just my experience with the LC9, so if you own one, if you like it and it works for you, please don't take it personally and I wish you the best of luck with it.

Here is my view on the LC9:

- Reliability - I put about 400 rounds through mine and it reliably fed everything I put in it, from FMJ's to +P JHP's to lead. So that's a plus. When I carried the LC9 I always felt secure that it would go bang.

- Size/Weight - not the smallest or lightest 9mm out there (e.g. compared to the PM9 for example) but very thin and easy to carry nevertheless. It makes for a gun you can carry all day. I carried mine IWB at 1 o'clock or 3 o'clock depending on the activity.

- Sights - the gun has good sights and if you can maintain sight alignment through the long trigger pull, it is an accurate gun.

- Safety - a lot of people don't like this about the LC9, but it didn't bother me. I suppose it you are too nervous to flick the safety off when you need to use your gun, you're probably too nervous to hit anything with it. So the problem is not with the safety, at least not for me. And you can always leave the safety off.

- Ergonomics - this is where I had problems with the gun. I have average size hands but I found the grip and the trigger reach way too small for me. This combined with a heavy, mushy trigger made for difficulties maintaining sight alignment, so even after 400 rounds I was not able to reliably get my personal minimum standard of 3" groups standing at 25 feet. The trigger itself was very long and the break was too far back for me, and it felt heavy and mushy. Due to this and the short reach I felt like I was pinching the trigger to make it break - what I mean is it felt like pinching something between my thumb and forefinger. After a few magazines my finger and hand would get tight and achy. I contacted Ruger and they told me this is the way it's supposed to be and there is nothing they could do about it. Same with the local gunsmith who quoted liability reasons for not wanting to adjust the trigger at all.

It is interesting to note that the range gun I tested before deciding on buying one felt better and I was more accurate with it. Also I am very accurate (for me) with a S&W revolver in DA. I don't get how people can compare the trigger on the LC9 with a S&W revolver. Any decent revolver will have a smoother and crisper trigger than the LC9 - not to mention the proper reach distance. But this is just my opinion.

So in conclusion I had to sell the gun because I felt I could not reliably defend myself with it if the time ever came. Now I am back to carrying my PPK, with which I am very accurate, until I can willy up and fork over $800 for a MK9 - which is what I should have done in the first place. At least the $250 I got back for the LC9 can go towards it.

Go shoot the LC9 and try out for yourself. But beware that what you test at the range may not be exactly what you get in the box. On the other hand, if you already own one and it works for you, first off I am jealous, and I wish you the best with it.

I have to agree on almost all points. I purchased my LC9 intending to use it as a BUG but have been having trouble being accurate with it as well. I have a Kahr P9 which is very similar in dimensions and also has a long pull, but I've had no troubles with accuracy. I'll put another 100 rounds or so through it to be sure, but I think it's going to get sold also.

Yes, it is a long trigger pull. Breaks right at the end. I do wish the LC9 had a trigger like the SR9c - that would be a real win.

Per my own review, and as noted by others, removing the mag disconnect safety does improve the trigger. So there's that.

But I won't argue with you. Each gun has its strengths and weaknesses, and you have to go with what works for you. Took me around 1000 rounds to get consistent groups. But first and foremost: the gun has to fit your hand. No way around that.

I'm afraid you may have been a little too quick to sell your gun. When I first got my LC9, I had a bit of trouble staying on target. Shortest distance @ the range I belong to is 33 FT. Now, 600 rounds later, I use a 50 ft. small bore target, five 4" circles on it, and have no trouble staying inside each circle with two hand hold, no rest. Most of my targets have the center of each bull torn out.

I bought an LC9 and had to send it back to the factory for an extractor issue. When it got back, I couldn't hit anything with it. I have purchased a Glock 26 since I got the LC9 and I'm not sure if I will keep the Ruger or not. I have had one FTE with it in the first 100 rounds since it came back from a Ruger, but the used 26 has been flawless. The Ruger wil get at least one more trip to the range before I make a decision on it, but it would make a nice down payment on a Glock 30 or 36.

Kudos to you for putting time into your gun to see if it would work for you. I'm sure some people keep a gun that's not a good fit for them because they never put in the time to see if their gun is a good match for them, etc.

It sounds like you gave the gun a fair chance and if it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work for you.

"Worked great after 1000 rounds!" I have problem accepting this for a Kimber let alone a small 9mm. Take the $200 spent on ammo to "break in" and add it to the cost and buy a PM9. While there are some who have had trouble with the PM9 they have a great trigger and superb accuracy.

As far as the safety goes, you have to put in much more practice time on a weapon with an external safety to develop the muscle memory. Flicking off the safety should become second nature before you carry that kind of weapon. If you aren't devoted to putting in the practice time, then you shouldn't carry it.

And if you think you aren't going to be nervous if you find yourself in a self defense situation, you're fooling yourself. But I'm not going to go unarmed just because I'm going to be stressed if confronted with someone who wants to do me harm or take me out.

If you don't like the trigger--you don't like the trigger, and no one should keep a gun they don't like for whatever reason. Simple as that.

I do feel your statement of "After a few magazines my finger and hand would get tight and achy" is a bit short-sighted. I don't believe any small pistol of realitively powerful cartridge with a long firm trigger pull should be expected to be easy on the hand in an extended range session. It's a CC weapon, intended to be used as such, not something one might expect to put a couple hundred rounds thru at a time. Perhaps a little time squeezing a tennis ball would have alleviated the ache and solved a dilemma with a firearm you seemed to have liked otherwise.

It's a CC weapon, intended to be used as such, not something one might expect to put a couple hundred rounds thru at a time. Perhaps a little time squeezing a tennis ball would have alleviated the ache and solved a dilemma with a firearm you seemed to have liked otherwise.

Hey, nothing personal, but I am not sure how my view on the LC9 and my aching hand is short-sighted.

I appreciate your POV, especially given your military background - which I respect as much as your philosophy that you shouldn't give up on something right away but try to improve yourself instead. But I am not in the military and the LC9 wasn't my issued side arm which I NEED to be able to use. It was just a gun I picked up at the local store and I didn't like it.

I'm afraid you may have been a little too quick to sell your gun. When I first got my LC9, I had a bit of trouble staying on target. Shortest distance @ the range I belong to is 33 FT. Now, 600 rounds later, I use a 50 ft. small bore target, five 4" circles on it, and have no trouble staying inside each circle with two hand hold, no rest. Most of my targets have the center of each bull torn out.

It's all about practice and mastering your weapon.

I don't like to throw good money after bad. Why invest a lot of time and money if I can pick up another gun and shoot it accurately off the bat? If I can just pick up a gun and shoot it accurately without training I am more likely to be accurate with it when it matters. I will also enjoy shooting such a gun at the range more, so I can get very good with it (which is the case with my PPK with which I can empty the mag and make them all head shots at 75 feet in 5 seconds). Yes, I lost $100 on the LC9, but that's how much I pay for 1 hour at the local range and a few hundred rounds of ammo. I'd rather invest that money on a different gun.

I sold my LC9 as well. Started having light primer strikes with my carry ammo only, nothing else ( corbon dpx) and I just couldn't get over the safety features that I felt were unneeded. Namely, the manual safety on a DAO weapon and the ridiculous loaded chamber indicator (which I modified) as well as the mag disconnect safety ( which I removed) . As far as accuracy, I found it to be less accurate than most of my other weapons that I used for carry ( LCR, P3AT, G29). So back to the factory for repair ( fixed light primer strikes) then sold. Easy come, easy go. I look forward to playing with the sig and beretta versions of the tiny nine.

I shot 100 rounds out of an LC9 at a local range and gave the gun right back without even one thought of buying it. Oh it was reliable and fed the two different types of rounds I was using. The problems were the looks and the ergonomics of the gun. It just did not fit my hand at all and I could never get what I thought was a secure grip on it. Maybe it was too thin or the trigger was too long of a pull, I just couldn't get used to it. - As far as the looks go, this is definitely a design disaster as far as I'm concerned. A garish looking LCI, safeties where there shouldn't be any, and fit and finish, at least on the gun I had, was poor. And who designed the thumb safety that hinges from the front? Stupid! - I really had high hopes for this gun when it was first announced and if only they had made a larger scale version of the LCP it would have been near perfect. As it is it looks like something Bill Ruger would have designed to screw with gun owners, who he detested.

I shot 100 rounds out of an LC9 at a local range and gave the gun right back without even one thought of buying it. Oh it was reliable and fed the two different types of rounds I was using. The problems were the looks and the ergonomics of the gun. It just did not fit my hand at all and I could never get what I thought was a secure grip on it. Maybe it was too thin or the trigger was too long of a pull, I just couldn't get used to it. - As far as the looks go, this is definitely a design disaster as far as I'm concerned. A garish looking LCI, safeties where there shouldn't be any, and fit and finish, at least on the gun I had, was poor. And who designed the thumb safety that hinges from the front? Stupid! - I really had high hopes for this gun when it was first announced and if only they had made a larger scale version of the LCP it would have been near perfect. As it is it looks like something Bill Ruger would have designed to screw with gun owners, who he detested.

Can you elaborate on this statement about Bill Ruger? I do not know him personally, but I find it hard to believe Mr. Ruger would detest gun owners...the very people that made him and his company millions!